Lesvos
- by XpatAthens
- Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Beautiful Lesvos with many streams, rich flora and fauna, famous olives groves, the mild Mediterranean climate, charming traditional villages and remarkable examples of industrial architecture (olive presses, soap factories, tanneries) dating from the Island's industrial development in the 19th century, impress all visitors. Lesvos, is also known for the unique fossilized forest covering the Sigri-Eressos-Antissa area.
It has been designated as a preserved natural monument since 1985. It is a forest ecosystem that has been fossilized 15-20 million years ago due to the intense volcanic activity in the area which included coniferous forests and mainly huge sequoias and primitive pine trees.
It is one of the rarest natural monuments in the world (the only similar ecosystems today are the coniferous forests in north America), visited by thousands of tourists. The removal and transfer of fossilized material is prohibited by law. The forest includes six visitor parks in the area.
It is the third biggest island in Greece, after Crete and Evia, with an area of 1,630sq. km and a coastline of 370km. It has 90,000 residents. A few miles away from the SW coast of Turkey, it is located almost at the entrance of Adramytios Gulf, N of Chios. It belongs to the Lesvos Prefecture that includes Limnos and Ag. Efstratios. It is famous for two products, Ouzo and Olive Oil.
To read more, please see visitgreece.gr